Vaughan to host Canada's first indoor snowboarding facility

A love for snowboarding led Alex Ching, Simon Chang and Adam Zigomanis to create Axis Freestyle Academy

Yorkregion.com
Aug. 17, 2016
By Michael Hayakawa

Alex Ching, Simon Chang and Adam Zigomanis love to go snowboarding.

But when Old Man Winter makes his annual exit and with it, any remnants of snow melt away, that normally means its time to put the boards away until next winter.

However, the three 32-year-old snowboarding enthusiasts and entrepreneurs came up with an idea to maintain their love of the sport during the offseason.

The trio is bringing the sport indoors.

They will be doing it on man-made inclines covered by a custom ordered astroturf surface similar to a soft plastic grass in an indoor snowboarding facility in Vaughan known as Axis Freestyle Academy.

The facility is billed as a “year-round indoor dryslope+trampoline ski & snowboard training park to perfect your skills safely”.

Located at 356 Four Valley Dr., the academy is housed in a 20,000-sq.-ft. facility.

While it might appear their facility caters to the avid snowboarder, that’s not the case, Ching said. They want to encourage beginners with the hope it will translate into more participants taking to the slopes in winter.

“We will be fully equipped for beginners to advanced athletes,” he said. “Our goal is to be a place of learning and skills development.”

Noting their training facility is the first of its kind in Canada, Ching said their indoor recreational place is the result of exhaustive research on similar facilities in other countries.

“We did countless hours of research and based our plans from existing facilities around the world. Mainly in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States,” Ching said.

The facility will be equipped with custom high performance trampolines, a variety of jumps and rails, foam pits, a gym and multi-purpose/yoga studio.

Feeling such a facility would work in Canada, the trio elected to locate in Vaughan.

Choosing York Region was largely derived from studying demographics.

With their facility undergoing development over the last three years, Ching estimated they have invested more than $500,000 to get where they are now.

“We really don’t come from wealthy backgrounds, so it’s been lots of hard work and sacrifice to get where we are now,” he said.

Once their facility is open for business, which they hope will be before the end of this month, Ching said they intend to have their doors open for snowboarders from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day.

“The morning and early afternoons will be for private bookings, camps, parent and toddler time,” he said.

They are making plans to conduct after-school programs and drop-in sessions for the remainder of the evenings.

On weekends, they hope to host events for the community.

“We have plans to offer classes for all levels of riding and teach the fundamentals of progression,” he said.